Operation: Brothers
by EmeryFelton
Summary: Kurt goes to spy on the Dalton Academy Warblers...and Finn comes with him. Takes place during Episode 206: Never Been Kissed. Caution: Many sickening brotherly Furt moments ensue.
1. The Plan

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor do I own any of the characters or anything else that has to do with Glee. That is all owned by Ryan Murphy and Fox. I make no money from this whatsoever. There is absolutely no copyright infringement intended. Thank you.

NOTES: Sometimes, I just feel so effing bad for Kurt. I mean, dude can take a hit and keep on truckin', but in reality, some bullied teenagers have taken their lives over lesser things. I love all the glee guys and I really wish they saw Kurt the way I see Kurt and I really wish they would include him more in some of their escapades because I think he'd make it funny as all get out. And then this story happened. OMfriggin'G you guys. My first multi-chaptered fic. I didn't think this one would be the first one to make it to multiple chapters, but it appears it is. It started one way and ended somewhere else, but I like it. I hope you guys do too.

**Operation: Brothers**

Season 2 Episode 6 – Never Been Kissed

_Kurt: Now, obviously for this medley to work I'm going to have to sing lead and, of course, when you're singing Diana Ross, Bob __Mackie__-esque __marabou__ feather boas are a must._

_Artie: Isn't this lesson about opposites? I mean, you in a sequined gown and a feather boa is exactly what you'd expect._

_Kurt: OK, who said anything about a gown?_

_Puck: Uh, dude. Why don't you make yourself useful and go put some rat poisoning in them old folks Jell-O or visit the Garglers._

_Kurt: The Warblers._

_Puck: Whatever. See what they're up to and you can wear all the feathers you want. You'll blend right in._

* * *

Looking at the boys surrounding him and realizing that they didn't care about anything he had to say, Kurt sighed dejectedly. "Fine."

Kurt resignedly picked up his presentation board and began to walk away, intent on the job awaiting him. He didn't notice Mike look to Finn worriedly, or Puck looking curiously over at Sam and Artie.

Finally, Finn called out "Wait!" stopping the closest thing he has to a real brother from walking out of the choir room door. "Are you serious?"

Kurt turned back to the room and shrugged, answering "Why not? You guys obviously aren't listening to me, like always. I might as well go do something 'useful.'" Kurt made air quotations, quoting Puck. Once again, he turned towards the door to walk out, before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on," said Finn. "I'll go with you."

Kurt flinched when the hand clapped down on his bruised shoulder from that morning's dumpster toss, before shrugging it off. He scoffed. "Please Finn. I am more than capable of handling a little spying mission."

"I don't think you are," interjected Puck. He crossed his arms. "It takes serious stealth and I was totally joking before. No matter how gay this school is, you'll still probably stick out like a sore thumb. I mean, you're you."

Kurt sighed once more, looking at the other guys. They were all nodding their heads. Kurt moved to sit back down, resigning himself to the fact that the boys didn't realize how offensive they were being. He honestly didn't think they would ever get it. Laying his board against the desk, he turned to look at Puck. "Well then, Puck. What do you propose I do?"

"Well first off, it's not as easy as just sticking on random clothes that look like their uniform." Kurt looked down at the desk. He hadn't exactly had the time to put much thought into what he was going to do, but thinking on it now, creating a fake uniform didn't sound like too bad of an idea. Puck was saying not to though. Not noticing Kurt's hesitation, Puck continued. "You've got to be the actual picture of stealth and the closest to stealthy that you can get in this situation is if you dress in your interview best, and pretend to be checking out their school for an immediate transfer." Kurt looked back up at Puck as all the other guys gasped and marveled at his brilliance. "Artie, get out your laptop."

Artie did so immediately, wanting to see where the master was going with his plan. Puck sat beside Kurt as Artie searched for Dalton Academy's website. Finding it quickly, he then handed his laptop over to Puck, letting him take a look at the site himself.

"Ok, let's see," Puck began. "When you get home later, go onto this page and take a look into their school system, just so you can be a little informed. Like, click on the 'About Us' page." Puck clicked on the tab and started scrolling down, not really reading it, but showing Kurt. He turned away from the webpage then to look at Kurt's face. "Then from there, look over the information, but what you really want is the 'Contact Us' page. Once you get that information, set up an appointment by phone by pretending to be your mom. Your voice is so high, it shouldn't be a problem, and then go from there and check out the school."

Kurt felt even more offended by Puck's remark about sounding like a girl, but he couldn't help but let it go after having glanced at the 'About Us' page of Dalton's website hovering in the background. Kurt stared more closely at the page and read what looked like the words "No Bullying Harassment Policy." That would definitely have to be something Kurt would look more into. He flinched as Puck shut the laptop sharply and handed it back to Artie.

"Got it, Hummel?" Kurt looked at the closed laptop Artie was sticking back into his bag.

"Got it," he managed to quietly say. His mind was still with the website and its words.

"Good, because if you get caught…" Kurt looked up at Puck, waiting for more stupid to come out of his mouth. "Well, there'll already be a bunch of dudes over there to beat your tail."

Kurt sighed. He doubted that would be the case if there was a no bullying policy, but then again, was it even possible to enforce such a thing?

"Don't worry, Puck," Finn interjected assuredly. "Kurt and I have got this."

Kurt sighed again. He certainly hoped they did.

* * *

"This is going to be the best thing ever!" exclaimed Finn. The boys were sitting in Kurt's Lincoln Navigator, with Kurt driving them home. "It's going to be like one big, badass, brotherly, bonding moment. It's going to be totally awesome!" Finn paused for a moment and then gasped in excitement once again. "Actually, we should totally call it that! Operation: Quadruple B! Big. Badass. Brotherly. Bonding…AWESOME!" Finn put his hand up and out expecting to get a high-five from his almost-brother, but instead he received a deadpan stare and quietness. Kurt turned back to look at the road.

Finn started feeling a damper being put on his good mood and dropped his hand. "Dude, what's wrong? This is going to be great. You'll see. Puck's plan is practically fool-proof."

Kurt snorted derisively. "Yeah, because that's exactly what I think when I think of Noah Puckerman: Fool-Proof. This is the idiot boy who tried to steal an ATM; not _money_, but an _entire_ ATM, Finn and you all act like he's the smartest person alive when it comes to any type of rule breaking. I just think he's a complete moron. We shouldn't be doing this."

Finn, who was about to protest and stick up for his best friend, then had to change directions and stick up for Operation: Quadruple B. "Dude, No! We totally should. Those Dalton guys may look like perfect prep boys, but I'm sure that on the inside, they're just like us: mean, nasty dudes who play hard and sing even harder." Finn paused for a moment before goofily smiling for a moment and commenting, "Rachel would be proud of our plan."

Kurt snorted once more. "But of course, if Miss Berry approves."

Finn shoved Kurt gently before reaching for Kurt's head. Kurt batted the hand away as hard as he could, but considering he was driving, he was quite unsuccessful. Finn went ahead and ruffled Kurt's hair. "NO! Finn!" Kurt tried to put his hair back to the way it was, but Finn let out an evil laugh and just did it again. It wasn't long before both boys were chuckling at each other's silliness.

"You suck so much," said Kurt laughingly.

"No, that would be you." Finn said straight faced.

Kurt's mouth fell open at his sheer audacity. "FINN!" Kurt laughed his brother's name incredulously. Finn laughed too and ruffled Kurt's hair once more. "Oh my Gaga, STOP!"


	2. The Preparation

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor do I own any of the characters or anything else that has to do with Glee. That is all owned by Ryan Murphy and Fox. I make no money from this whatsoever. There is absolutely no copyright infringement intended. Thank you.

NOTES: Ok, so I've gotten 5 followers and 1 favorite since I've posted the first chapter. Not bad, as this _is_ my first multi-chaptered fanfic. For the record, this work is complete. I plan on posting a chapter a day, and it will only be 5 chapters long, but for my first multi-chaptered fic, I'm thinking that's not bad. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew and it's not exactly my usual Badass-Kurt fic. There are plenty more of those to come in the future. Anyway, I'll shut up now. Merry Christmas readers! Enjoy Chapter 2!

**Operation: Brothers**

It wasn't much longer before both boys were safe at home, getting ready to take care of super-secret spying business. Only after would they begin their homework and try to play innocent for when their parents would return home.

Once Kurt unlocked the front door, the boys went to their joint room down in the basement.

"Finn," Kurt stated as he gently sat his messenger bag on top of his bed. He looked at his almost-brother who had dropped his bag on the floor before flopping down on his bed. "Please pull up the website. I'm going to write out a script."

Finn jumped to his feet and went to his desk. "Sure, dude," he said as he opened his laptop, booted it up and sat down, waiting patiently for everything to load.

"So," Kurt was sitting at his own desk with a notebook and a pen. "I was thinking we could go to our morning classes and during lunch, get ready and take our field trip, skipping our afternoon classes. What do you say?"

"…Skip our afternoon classes?" Finn asked hesitantly. He turned to look at Kurt in surprise, but Kurt was still looking at his notebook, writing down what he needed to say. "Sounds like a solid plan to me."

"The students will probably still be in their classes," Kurt pressed the pen to his lips in thought, "but we'll be there long enough for them to get out and move onto any extracurriculars they might be heading to, such as glee rehearsal."

Finn just nodded along as he finally got to the website he was searching for. "Stealthy. Awesome."

Kurt finally turned away from his notebook, looking at Finn, he asked, "Do you have the phone number?"

"Right here, bro." Finn pointed at the screen and smiled in achievement.

"Excellent." Kurt put his notebook down, went upstairs and grabbed the house phone. He made quick work of coming back downstairs to their bedroom and moved to stand behind Finn. He looked at the phone number and made the call.

"_Dalton Academy. This is Gina. How many I help you?"_

Kurt picked up his notebook, switched his voice to a slightly higher pitch and started in. "Ah, yes. Hello Gina. My name is Carroll Hummel and I'm calling in regards to your school. I was wondering if I could ask for some information."

Kurt turned to his bed to sit down. He glanced at Finn who was staring back at him, openmouthed. Kurt smiled at him.

"_Of course, Mrs. Hummel. What information is it in which you are interested?" _

"My husband, Burt, and I are thinking of sending our youngest son to your Academy and I was first wondering if you take mid-year transfers."

"_Not always, no. It depends on the circumstances." _

Kurt adopted a saddened expression, despite the fact that the secretary couldn't see him. "Oh well, let me delve a little further into our story. Our youngest son, Kurt, he gets bullied at his school and," Kurt put on his best sigh "it's gotten really bad recently. We have cause for concern that it's just going to escalate and I'm sure you know," Kurt placed his hand on his heart, "because you work with boys yourself, it's like pulling teeth trying to get him to open up to us." Kurt added a matronly giggle for added affect.

"_Oh yes, ma'am. I do. I really do."_

"We don't want to send him away from us, but we will if we have to. We'll do what we must to protect our son." Kurt looked to Finn and Finn was chewing his lip thoughtfully, looking confused by Kurt's speech. Kurt just shook his head at him.

"_I understand your frustration and fortunately, here at Dalton Academy, we have a very strict zero tolerance harassment policy. Nothing gets by us." _

Kurt nodded along to everything the woman was saying. He breathed an audible sigh of relief and exclaimed through the phone. "That's wonderful. That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

"_Yes, ma'am. Well, although we're not always able to take mid-year transfers, we do sometimes make exceptions. Why don't you come and take a tour of our school?"_

"Oh!" Kurt exclaimed in genuine surprise. This'll be easier than he thought. "My husband and I would love to do that! In fact, we were banking on it. Would it be possible to schedule an appointment for tomorrow around 2:30?"

"_Most definitely!"_ Kurt smirked in achievement.

"We mustn't waste time with this matter. Surely you understand?"

"_Of course. I have you down for 2:30 tomorrow, Mrs. Hummel. Can't wait to meet you and your husband."_

"You as well, Gina. Until tomorrow."

And with that, Kurt hung up. He looked up to Finn who was staring at him in awe.

"Dude, that…was….awesome! You sounded just like a mom. How did you come up with that bullying idea though?"

"It's called acting Finn, and I figured for the sake of an immediate transfer, what else would make them want to take me?" Kurt sat the phone down on his bed.

Finn dropped his line of questioning. "Oh this is going to be perfect tomorrow. I can't wait!"

"Yes, well, do you have homework?" Kurt changed the subject and stood up, rubbing the wrinkles out of his pants.

Finn grumbled from his desk as he slouched down, "Yeeaaahhhh…"

"What subjects?" asked Kurt on his way to his closet.

"English and Math."

Kurt nodded as he looked through his suits. "I finished all mine at school today. I can help you with yours."

Finn smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Kurt. You're the best little almost-brother ever."

"Uh huh. Now do what you can while I pick an outfit for the both of us to wear tomorrow and what you get stuck on, I'll help you with it after. Deal?"

Finn reached for his book bag. "Sure."

* * *

Later that night, Finn lay in his bed fast asleep as Kurt sat at his desk, looking over his laptop by lamplight. Staring at the web page in front of him, Kurt couldn't help but be impressed by the pictures in the Dalton Academy virtual photo gallery. He looked at every picturesque building, every face, and every smile and just shook his head with a sigh. There's no way a place like this could exist. A place where different boys from different walks of life could communicate and interact in perfect harmony? That only happens in New York City…or San Francisco. Kurt was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard some rustling of sheets behind him.

"Are you going to sleep anytime soon?" Finn asked Kurt tiredly from his bed. Kurt kept staring at his computer screen. After a brief pause, Kurt answered "In a moment."

"What are you even doing?" Finn rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Tomorrow should be fine. We took care of the appointment and everything. What more do we need to know?"

"Background information, Finn. I'm just going over some background information. I'm doing what Puck _told_ us to do, so that if we're asked any questions tomorrow, we'll seem more genuine."

Kurt was answered by a soft snore. Glancing at his almost-brother, Kurt took in his dopey expression, even in sleep. Finn was sprawled all over the place, the covers half on, half off his body. He looked like a giant four year old.

Sighing, Kurt turned once again toward his computer screen. "Now," he grabbed his mouse, clicking on the 'About Us' tab on Dalton's website. "Let's see more about this zero-tolerance harassment policy."

* * *

The next morning, Finn and Kurt were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast while Burt finished his cup of coffee. Carol had already left for her shift at the hospital.

Burt stood up and putting the cup in the sink, he looked at the boys and said "Well, I'm off to work. See you guys when I get home." With that said he walked over to Kurt and kissed his head, murmuring "Love ya," to which Kurt replied the same. Burt then squeezed Finn's shoulder and walked out the door. When the front door closed, Kurt and Finn both looked to each other.

"You have the outfit I picked out for you yesterday ready to go, correct?" Kurt asked Finn.

The taller teen nodded his head and stood up, dropping his cereal bowl in the sink. "I packed it last night. I just need to grab it, and we can go to school."

Kurt followed his almost-brother's lead and put his plate in the sink as well. They went to their shared room. Picking up their packed clothes for the afternoon and their book bags, they were ready to go.

* * *

The morning classes that each boy had to attend were the longest morning classes either had ever experienced. Finn was so excited about that afternoon's super-secret spying mission, he wasn't really able to concentrate. Should he wear his shades while they were touring the inside of the building's or shouldn't he? It would certainly add to the badassness of the situation.

Kurt was much the same as Finn, but he wasn't excited. He was anxious. Even if he and Finn were able to get through the whole tour completely undetected, there's no telling whether or not they'll even find the Warbler's and even if they did, what's to stop them from finding out who they were? For all Kurt knew, the Warbler's could have done some background research too. Finn is the male lead for Gaga's sake. They're not exactly being as stealthy as they'd like to be, that's for sure. And another thing: If the Warbler's have done their research and know who Finn and Kurt are, what's to say they won't beat them up immediately upon sight? Kurt sighed.

The lunch bell rang. Kurt and Finn met up in the hallway by their lockers to get their change of clothes they had stored that morning, before walking into the men's bathroom, going to their respectable stalls and changing outfits. When they walked out, Puck was waiting for them, leaning against the sinks, along with Mike, Sam and Artie who were standing by the door.

"Ready boys?" asked Puck.

Kurt immediately stepped past him and began to look himself over in the mirror. As he made a move to push his bangs back further, Sam came up behind him, looking him in the eyes through the mirror.

"Look," said Sam, whose previous school had been private. "Private school guys are just like any other guys. They're just like us."

"Like _us_?" Kurt scoffed derisively.

Sam ignored the derision. "Yes. Just like _us_. Remember that and you'll do fine." Kurt nodded his head and looked at Finn who nodded in return. They were ready.


	3. The Action

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor do I own any of the characters or anything else that has to do with Glee. That is all owned by Ryan Murphy and Fox. I make no money from this whatsoever. There is absolutely no copyright infringement intended. Thank you.

NOTES: I'm not fishing for feedback, but I really do hope you guys are enjoying it so far. No one has said anything…so I guess no news is good news?

**Operation: Brothers**

The trip was only meant to take about two hours overall, but to Kurt it seemed to be taking longer than that. Finn would simply _not _shut up. The entire ride was filled with excitement, proclamations, solos and just general stupidity. Kurt was half a second away from crashing his baby into a tree just to get away from it all before he realized that they were there. Finn quieted as they turned into the parking lot. Kurt parked and they both looked up at the school in front of them.

"Awesome," Finn whispered reverently. "Ok. Our first mission as brothers is a go."

Kurt sighed and shook his head and made to open his car door before Finn reached over him and shut it.

Kurt turned to look at him. "What are you doing?"

"We need to talk before we do this," Finn stated in reply. "You don't seem to be having as much fun as I am. You're head's not in the game. Why is that?"

"Oh, gee, I don't know Finn," Kurt replied sarcastically. "Perhaps it's because I just had to sit in my car for two hours with an overgrown toddler beside me who wouldn't shut the hell up the entire ride here, or perhaps it has to do with the fact that we're about to go in there and spy on a prestigious, preparatory Academy for boys! As in many, multiple, lots of BOYS!"

Finn was silent for a moment and then broke into a smile "That's just right up your alley then isn't it? What? Are you afraid they won't think you're cute?"

Kurt shook his head. Finn just didn't get it. None of the boys did.

"I couldn't care less about a cute boy, Finn. What I do care about is what they'll do to us when they realize we're spying."

Finn lost his teasing smile and adorned a softer one instead. "Hey, I won't let anything happen to you, ok?"

Kurt had to scoff at that one. Finn didn't do anything for him at his own school. What's to make Kurt believe that he's actually going to stand up for him here?

"If anything, we can say I came to spy and you actually came because you really actually did want to transfer."

Kurt's mouth tightened. 'Good job, Finn,' he thought. 'Spot on.'

Kurt sighed. "All right. Let's just do this. We don't want to be late for our appointment."

"That's the spirit!"

The boys got out of the car and made their way to the school. Before they opened the front doors to the main building though, Kurt reached out and stopped Finn. "Turn to me." Finn turned and Kurt reached up for Finn's tie and straightened it. He then proceeded to dust the lint from his jacket and buttoned it for him.

"Ok," Kurt sighed. "Better."

Finn turned back and opened the door in front of him, holding it open for Kurt who walked in and glanced around.

Old walls. Old Ceilings. All very classic looking. Even the door to the main office was made of solid oak. Kurt could tell that much. He opened the door and walked in with Finn. They met the secretary's eyes and she stood to greet them.

"Hello, may I help you?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Finn. "We have an appointment to look at your school today. We're thinking about a transfer here for my little brother."

"Ah, yes. Kurt Hummel. The 2:30 appointment." The secretary looked at the boys in front of her and asked politely, "Could neither Mr. nor Mrs. Hummel join us today?"

"Unfortunately not," stated Kurt. "Our mother accidentally double booked her appointments today, but seeing as this transfer is all about me, they're going to trust my judgment."

"All right then. Let's just go ahead and get started, shall we?" The secretary moved from behind the desk and walked around shaking Kurt's hand. "First off, welcome. My name is Gina Mitchell and I will be your tour guide for this afternoon."

Kurt smiled good-naturedly and shook her hand in return. "I'm Kurt and this is Finn."

"Lovely to meet you both. Well, here is the main office." Ms. Mitchell gestured about her before moving to the door and walking out of the office. The other boys were quick to follow her. "Moving into the adjoining hall, you will come across nothing but a teacher's lounge and a work/mail room leading into the main area which is composed of a number of classrooms. Classrooms can be found on the two floors above this one as well as the floor below." Kurt and Finn walked while Ms. Mitchell talked. She brought them to every floor and every building, pointing out certain areas when Kurt or Finn would make an interested noise. It wasn't long before they moved outside.

"The building across the way there is our dining hall." They began to walk towards it as a student walked out. The boy held the door open for them as they made their way through. Finn noticed the guy give Kurt an interested once over before moving on. Finn shook his head and side smiled. Yep.

"Inside you will find our cafeteria as well as a small café. A meal option is included with tuition and if you're planning on boarding, we provide a more extensive meal plan included in room and board." Kurt was amazed by all of the options the school provided so far, and the tour wasn't even most of the way finished yet.

"Are there any questions so far?" Kurt pried his eyes away from the espresso machine and shook his head. Ms. Mitchell turned and moved towards the doors once more. "Moving on then."

Kurt turned back to Finn to make sure he was keeping up. He was, but Kurt noticed him looking at one of the tables. Kurt looked as well and it looked as if two boys were sitting rather closely together. One was blond and the other brunet. He saw the brunet one reach out his hand and the other boy took it. The brunet squeezed his hand and smiled before letting go and turning away bashfully. The blond reached over and took his hand again, and didn't let go.

Kurt's heart melted. He looked back at Finn who was looking back at him, smiling gently. Finn walked closer to Kurt and put his arm around his shoulders, noticing that Kurt had tensed a little before relaxing. He walked them both towards the door where Ms. Mitchell was waiting for them. She saw that the younger boy, Kurt, was having a moment. He looked so sad. She hoped for his sake that he would choose to come to Dalton.

The rest of the tour was quick and painless. They saw the gymnasium and the fields for play. They saw an example dorm. Kurt was amazed by the size of the room. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. There wasn't much closet space though. Kurt quickly shook his head out of that thought.

'Pull yourself together, Hummel,' Kurt thought to himself. 'You're not_ really_ transferring here.'

It wasn't long before the tour was over and they had made their way back to the main office.

"So, what do you think?" asked Ms. Mitchell, spreading out her arms. "Have we found your new home away from home?"

"Well, it's certainly a remarkable school," answered Kurt.

"Very open-minded," replied Finn in turn.

Kurt nodded at Finn. "I'll have to speak with my parents about it."

"Of course. Naturally. We wouldn't expect anything else. Well, I suppose that concludes everything gentlemen. Did you have any other questions?"

"Um, yes. Actually I do," answered Kurt, beginning to look a little uncomfortable. "Where is the bathroom?" he whispered.

"Oh my goodness!" Ms. Mitchell whisper-exclaimed. "I apologize!"

"Oh, it's fine. I just, you know, long trip and all." Kurt waved his hands about randomly.

"Of course, of course. It's down the hall." Ms. Mitchell pointed with her finger. "When you hit the end, take a left, and it should be the third door down."

"Great. Thank you." Kurt grabbed Finn's arm and started pushing him towards that way.

"OK," whispered Kurt. "Now is our chance to do some major infiltration. Let's go."

Finn looked dubious. "And say what when we get in trouble?"

"When we went looking for a bathroom, we got lost," Kurt stated simply.

"So, basically, Puck should just be asking you for criminal advice."

Kurt snorted and took a left at the end of the hall with Finn when they both heard a bell rang. Multitudes of boys started making their way out of the classrooms surrounding them and Finn and Kurt were pushed with traffic towards the same stairs they took earlier to get to the bottom floor. As they made their way, Finn made an observation.

"Why does it look like all these dudes are going to the same place?"

"You're right. I'm not sure. Let me just…" Kurt trailed off as he saw a perfect opportunity walking down the stairs in front of him. He called out.

* * *

_Kurt: "Excuse me. Um, hi. Can I ask you a question? I-I'm new here."_

_Blaine: "My name is Blaine."_

_Kurt: "Kurt. So, what exactly is going on?"_

_Blaine: "The Warblers! Every now and then they throw an impromptu performance in the senior commons. Tends to shut the school down for a while."_

_Kurt: "So wait, the glee club here is kind of cool?"_

_Blaine: "The Warblers are like rock stars. Come on. I know a short cut."_

* * *

Finn watched as Kurt's right hand was taken and he was pulled down the rest of the stairs. Kurt turned and looked at Finn in confusion and shock. Finn just shrugged and walked behind him. His long legs were able to keep up just fine, but as he looked around, he noticed exactly where they were from the tour that they had just finished moments ago and to be honest, he doubted very highly that this was a short cut to wherever it may be that the Warbler's were performing. Nothing was really down this hallway.

'In fact…' Finn's eyes narrowed with his thinking. 'This hallway leads to a dead end. The hallways attached take you...' He cut off his thoughts. 'Where_ is_ he taking us exactly?' Finn's eyes couldn't help but drift to Kurt's hand being clung to so tightly by the other dude dragging him down the hall.

It didn't take much longer for all three boys to arrive where the performance would be, and…

'Yep,' Finn confirmed to himself, nodding to his thoughts. 'Totally longer. We could have just kept straight.'

Finn's thoughts were interrupted by Kurt as he looked around the room before him.

* * *

_Kurt: "Ooh. I stick out like a sore thumb."_

_Blaine: "Well, next time don't forget your jacket new kid. You'll fit right in. Now if you'll excuse me."_

* * *

Finn zeroed in on this Blaine dude touching his little brother's jacket. He shook his head and crossed his arms, looking away and waiting for the performance to start.

As Blaine went off and began to sing, Kurt stood entranced as he watched on. This was, without a doubt, the dreamiest performance he had ever seen. Part way through the performance, Finn turned to Kurt to make a comment when he noticed Kurt's facial expression. Finn uncrossed his arms and held his hand up to Kurt's face and waved it, but it appeared Kurt was not coming out of la-la land anytime soon.

"Kurt? Kurt!" Finn whisper yelled.

Kurt broke out of his trance and looked at him quickly before turning back to the performance, not wanting to miss a moment. Finn crossed his arms once more and huffed.

"What?" replied Kurt out of the corner of his mouth.

"Well?" Finn stated obviously, gesturing a hand towards the dancing boys. "What do you think?"

"I think they're absolutely dreamy," Kurt sighed.

Finn stared at his brother with a deadpan stare before turning back to the performance and whispering, "Dude. Duh. What I'm asking is for glee purposes. What do you think?"

Kurt shook himself out of his stupor once again. 'Right,' He thought. 'Spying.'

"Well, if the judges are all preteen girls…or gay boys, like myself, we could all be Adam Lambert's and Lady Gaga's, and the judges still wouldn't pick us."

Finn sighed dramatically. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking too."


	4. Abort, Abort!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor do I own any of the characters or anything else that has to do with Glee. That is all owned by Ryan Murphy and Fox. I make no money from this whatsoever. There is absolutely no copyright infringement intended. Thank you.

NOTES: Hey guys! You may have realized that I have been making Kurt the littlest of the group in this fic. In my mind, I'm not actually changing anything physically. Everyone still looks the same from the episode. I knew that Kurt was an older member of the group, but I didn't realize it had been confirmed that he was older than Finn. When Finn talks about Kurt being his "little brother," he literally is meaning littler, not younger. Kurt just humors him. Just know that I'm taking artistic license here. Thank you for reading!

**Operation: Brothers**

Once the Warblers had finished performing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," Finn turned to Kurt quickly.

"Ok," said Finn over the cacophony of cheers. "Let's go before anyone-"

"Hi!" Finn was interrupted by an Asian boy. A Black boy came to stand beside him. Blaine quickly ran up to join them.

"You guys! This is Kurt," Blaine pointed to Kurt looking at his friends who were smiling at him indulgently. "He's new here, and this is…" Blaine trailed off, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck and looking properly abashed. "I'm sorry. I didn't even get your name."

"Yeah, you seemed a little distracted," snarked Finn, speaking of the smaller boy's earlier concentration on only his little brother. Blaine blushed and Kurt gently smacked Finn in the stomach.

"I apologize for Finn. He's my big brother. He can be a little protective at times."

The other boys smiled sweetly while Finn grumbled.

"I'm Wes," said the Asian, who stuck his hand out for the boys to shake.

The other boy, "David," did the same.

The brothers shook them.

"It's funny," stated David, eyes narrowed on Kurt. "I work in the main office in my spare time and I haven't heard anything about any new mid-year transfers, yet Blaine says you're new here?"

"Oh! Well, I'm not actually, technically yet new here." Kurt stuttered out, trying to sound as educated about his situation as possible. "My mom sent me here to check out this school because she and my father are thinking of transferring me."

"Ah," David nodded and looked to Wes. "I see." Both boys looked skeptically at each other and turned to Blaine who was frowning at Kurt's body language.

Kurt smiled abashedly down at the floor. "I apologize for giving the impression that I'm new here."

"Our headmaster is a stickler for the uniform, so…" Wes trailed off.

Kurt laughed stiffly. "Right."

"It's fine." Wes stated gently. "We just wanted to make sure you hadn't actually come here to spy."

The three Warblers laughed and Finn and Kurt joined them awkwardly.

"What would we spy on?" asked Finn as confusedly as possible.

"Glee club," Blaine stated simply.

"I hadn't realized that glee clubs needed such protection," Kurt answered innocently, widening his eyes in fake shock.

"Oh trust me," Wes shook his head. "Some show choirs can be quite unstable sometimes."

"Would you guys like to go get some coffee?" asked Blaine nicely, with his eyes only on Kurt.

Finn tried to look apologetic. "Actually, we _really_ have to get go-"

"That would be lovely! Thank you!" interjected Kurt. Finn's head snapped over to his brother.

"Great!" Blaine exclaimed excitedly and Finn's head snapped back to him. Blaine looked like he was going to grab Kurt's hand once more, but decided against it once he saw Finn's scowl. "Follow us!"

The Warblers walked ahead of them and Finn turned to look at Kurt again.

"That would be lovely? Thank you? What are you doing?"

"What?" Kurt questioned innocently shrugging his shoulders. "I'm interested to know what other sorts of information they have."

"They already suspect something is off about us!" Finn whisper-screamed as they followed a distance behind the boys who appeared to be whispering to each other. Blaine kept looking back at them. "If they're leading us to a gym full of dodge ball-throwing army brats, I can only do so much."

Kurt gulped looking away from Finn's serious demeanor. He honestly hadn't given it much thought, but now that Finn mentioned it, he was beginning to doubt his decision. He had no reason to fret though, as they quickly came upon the dining hall where Kurt eyed that espresso machine earlier. His mouth watered.

"Blaine," Wes interjected when they arrived at the café. "Why don't you and Kurt go pick our table and David, Finn and myself will go get us some coffees."

Kurt immediately went off with Blaine to search for a seat as Finn watched on in uncertainty.

Wes interrupted Finn's staring. "You know, Finn, if it weren't for Kurt, I'd think you guys were here to _actually_ spy on us."

"Yeah," said David, still looking after the two who had just found a table and sat down. "You're a really good brother, coming all this way to check out the school with him and everything."

Finn looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"All this that you're doing for Kurt," David supplied. "I mean, it's painfully obvious that the boy gets bullied."

Finn looked even more concerned as to where their conversation was heading. "…It is?"

"Yes. Surely you've noticed it? I mean, you're here."

Finn shook his head.

"Just...look." David pointed to the table whilst looking at Finn confusedly.

Finn turned and looked back through the doors of the dining hall at Kurt who was smiling softly at the boy in front of him, but his eyes kept shifting away and looking around. It was as if he was waiting for his happiness to be crushed by some unknown being at any moment.

"Let's see if Blaine tries to initiate contact," said David, standing at attention.

They waited for a moment before Blaine glanced down and reached for Kurt's hand only for Kurt to pull back immediately as if his hand had been burned. Kurt tried to play it off like it was nothing and Blaine sat up straighter, trying not to look disheartened.

"Mmm," Wes hummed and David nodded at him. "The bullying at your school has gotten physical."

"No," Finn shook his head in denial. "No. Kurt's always been like that. He's never liked being touched. He's never been that much of a touchy-feely person."

"...Finn?" asked Wes hesitantly. "Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps Kurt's _always_ been like that because he's _always_ been bullied?"

Finn just kept shaking his head and looking at Kurt.

"It's quite obvious," continued Wes matter-of-factly. "The boy looks like he hasn't gotten a wink of sleep in months. He's too pale and too skinny for his age."

"Lord knows what sorts of bruises his clothes are hiding, maybe even cuts. The boy isn't doing well," remarked David, shaking his head. David turned to Finn then and asked bluntly, "Has Kurt ever outwardly displayed any signs of depression or expressed any thoughts of suicide?"

At the word "suicide," Finn's face blanched and he turned from studying Kurt to look at the other boys in pure horror. Wes and David looked to each other curiously before turning back to Finn, narrowing their eyes and crossing their arms.

"Let me see if we understand this correctly." David took a deep breath. "Finn, did you guys actually come here to see about Kurt getting an immediate transfer?"

Finn looked away from Kurt to his shoes and shook his head at the floor.

"Oh my God," stated Wes incredulously. "You actually _did_ come here to spy on our glee club, didn't you?"

"Kurt said it was a stupid idea," Finn tried to justify it. "He didn't really want to do it."

"And he didn't," answered David with a nod and a soft smile. It all made sense now. "Not really, but I guess as soon as he checked our website and saw the zero tolerance bullying policy, he decided it didn't sound like too bad of an idea."

Wes was shaking his head, arms crossed, with a look of agitation on his face. "Are you guy's even brothers?"

"Step-brothers," answered Finn proudly, glad to get away from any drastic talk of Kurt killing himself. "Well, almost anyway. Our parents aren't married, but we're thinking any day now that his dad is going to pop the question, but we're as good as brothers."

"Are you?" questioned Wes honestly. "You stick up for him when your football friends are tormenting him in the hallways? Locker checking him? Throwing him into dumpsters?"

Finn glared at the boys and moved to finally make his way into the dining hall. One of the boys behind him muttered something about hitting a nerve, but Finn didn't care. He turned to the table where Kurt and Blaine were still sitting and they appeared to be exchanging phones.

"Come on, Kurt," Finn flinched when he realized how right the other boys were. Kurt had jumped as soon as he heard Finn's loud voice. He lowered it and stated simply. "We have to go. Dad's expecting us home in time for dinner."

Kurt and Blaine both stood up. Kurt moved around the table to walk towards Finn, only to have Blaine reach out and gently touch his forearm. Kurt tensed up and Finn saw that too. His eyes had been opened now and it was as if he couldn't close them anymore. It was all so obvious now that it had been pointed out to him. How could he have been so blind?

"It was lovely to have met you, Kurt. I look forward to seeing you again, especially if you do decide to transfer here."

Kurt nodded and said "You too, Blaine," before moving towards the door where Finn was holding out his arm telling him to come on. He laid his hand on Kurt's upper back gently to guide him to the exit, but he felt Kurt's back muscles tense at his touch as well. Finn pulled his hand away immediately.

"Good bye, Kurt." Wes smiled gently at the boys walking by them to leave.

"We look forward to seeing you perform at sectionals," answered David with a big smile on his face.

Kurt looked at Wes and David in confusion, before glancing back at Finn who shook his head and continued walking towards the exit.

"Or sooner," responded Wes, "if that _is_ what comes of this little spying mission, of course."

Kurt took a deep breath before walking after Finn. He caught up with him further down the hallway and they exited together. Both remained quiet.

* * *

Kurt and Finn had both entered Kurt's Navigator and were well on their way home before Kurt couldn't take it anymore and broke the tense silence.

"Please say something."

Finn turned his gaze from the windshield over to Kurt, before looking away. Speaking to his lap, Finn said "Like what? What do you want me to say, Kurt? Would you like me to say that I don't feel totally betrayed right now? That I feel like I went into a situation that I felt completely ready for? Because I don't. I don't feel that way at all." Finn turned back to look at Kurt, who kept face forward, driving. "How could you _do_ this?"

Kurt sighed deeply and opened his mouth. "Finn-"

"No!" Finn interrupted petulantly. "We went in there with me thinking we were there to spy. Remember? Our big badass brotherly bonding mission? But no, you had a different plan altogether. You-"

Finn was cut off as Kurt swerved his vehicle abruptly, pulling it to the side of the road. Putting it in park, Kurt turned the car off and turned to his almost-stepbrother, desperate gleam in his eye.

"Look, it was my intention to spy at first, but when I was looking at their website last night, I saw that they had this zero-tolerance harassment policy and it sounded too good to be true. I mean, an all-boy's school with absolutely no harassment at all? Having gay boys and straight boys walking along the halls together in perfect harmony? It sounds like a complete fantasy; a utopia, even."

Kurt turned to look back out of the windshield, deflating a little as tears started to well in his glasz eyes.

"And it was. I still can't believe I'm not dreaming right now. I mean, you and I talked to a number of straight guys who shook my hand and talked to me like a normal human being. And to talk to an openly gay guy in the middle of Nowhere, Ohio who actually had straight guy friends who love him for him and don't care that he's gay?

"Wait. Just to be clear, that lead singer dude _is_ gay?"

"Cheesus, Finn!"

Finn was silent for a moment before he saw that Kurt wasn't going to continue. Opening his mouth carefully, because he really didn't want to piss Kurt off, he said "The glee guys love you. They don't care that you're gay."

Kurt snorted.

"The glee guys don't love me, Finn. They _tolerate_ me. Just yesterday, Artie made the stereotype that I wanted to wear a gown during our mash-up. Mike never talks to me. Barely a year ago, Puck was throwing me in dumpsters and Sam, although he is quite kind to me, has been warned away from me, by hmm? Who was that again? Oh yeah! You."

Kurt turned to look at Finn now with anger, frustration and desperation in his eyes.

"And while we're on the subject of you, let's have a little look at you too. Do you want to know why I had my little crush on you last year, Finn?"

Finn just stared at Kurt. He didn't open his mouth because he knew he was about to be told anyway.

"I had a crush on you because you were the nicest guy I had ever met." Kurt laughed at the sentence he just uttered. His tears were freely falling now. He turned back to look out the windshield once more and continued. "Which is so unfathomably ridiculous due to the fact that the only nice thing you ever did for me was tell Puck to have some control while shoulder checking me into a locker...and hold my designer jackets and school bag before your fellow jocks threw me in the dumpster."

Kurt turned again to look at Finn.

"That was why I had a crush on you. Because although you still bullied me, you did it the least amount compared to all the other guys at school and in my warped little mind that meant something to me. But now? Going to Dalton has made me realize that there's a whole other world out there."

Still looking at Finn, Kurt deflated again. His voice was small as he continued in his speech.

"The glee guys don't see me as a boy because I'm gay and like boys. The girls don't see me as a girl because I am, in all actuality, a boy. I don't fit in anywhere, Finn. All I want is to have a place where I fit; where I belong." Kurt took a deep breath before letting it out and saying in a gentle voice, "And I think Dalton might be that place."

Finn gasped. "Dude, no! You can't just-"

"You're right!" Kurt interjected before Finn went off about abandoning glee. "I can't and there's no way I ever could because it costs a lot of money for one to be able to go to Dalton; money that Dad does not have. So, don't worry. I won't be leaving McKinley and I won't be leaving glee. I'll just do what I always do to survive high school: make it work."

Kurt's tears really started to fall then. He just clutched the steering wheel and stared out of the windshield before he heard a seat belt unbuckle and then felt his own being unbuckled too. He turned to Finn wondering what he was doing before he felt two strong arms wrap around him. Kurt tensed for a moment, but then fell further into his almost-stepbrother's arms and wept for what he knew he would never have, listening to Finn's soft voice telling him to let it all out and that everything would be OK.


	5. Mission: Accomplished

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor do I own any of the characters or anything else that has to do with Glee. That is all owned by Ryan Murphy and Fox. I make no money from this whatsoever. There is absolutely no copyright infringement intended. Thank you.

NOTES: Oh my Gosh, you guys. I am so sorry for the little bit of a wait for this last chapter. I started reading it over and then I didn't like it and then I started picking it apart and adding things to it and then decided I hated that even more and I just, ugh. I hope you guys enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it though. I just really hope this last chapter is ok. I could never really get this chapter perfect. I sincerely hope you guys don't find this chapter lacking or rushed through or thrown together. I've read it through what feels like a thousand times. Thank you for sticking with me!

**Operation: Brothers**

"So," said Puck. "How did the spying go?" It was morning of the next day and Finn's mind had been preoccupied ever since the night before. After Kurt's breakdown in the car, he had told Finn not to call him dude, buckled up, waited for Finn to do the same and then he drove them home, all the while listening to an eclectic range of music. That night at home had been a silent one. He kind of let Kurt be by himself for a while before dinner, but afterwards, he asked Kurt if he wanted to play some videogames with him. He was shocked when Kurt said yes, and even more so when he got his ass handed to him by his tiny, gay, almost-stepbrother. In fact, Kurt was now his number one go-to gaming partner, he had decided. Finn already had a plan to put the beat-down on Puck later, using Kurt as his secret weapon. Puck totally wouldn't know what hit him.

Speaking of Puck, Finn looked at him before closing his locker. Turning to both the left and the right, checking to make sure no one was listening, Finn turned to his friend and answered subdued "It was hell."

"They're that good?!" asked Puck incredulously.

"What?" Finn asked distractedly. He had almost forgotten their sole purpose of going to Dalton in the first place. "Oh, no! No. I mean, they were good yeah, but no, that's not the problem."

"Then what is it?"

"It's Kurt…"

"Dear Lord," Puck gasped. "He bagged himself a boyfriend."

"What? No! Puck! Focus! This is bad. I mean, really bad."

"Dude," Puck shook his head, perplexed. "What's the deal? Just say it."

Finn hesitated before lowering his voice and said "Kurt wants to transfer."

"WHAT?!" Puck exploded.

"Puck-"

"He can't do that! Glee needs him! Doesn't he know how completely selfish he'd be if he left us? And before sectionals too? Oh we are totally telling Rachel! She'll talk some sense into him and-"

"Puck, you don't understand." Finn interrupted his friend looking solemn. "You weren't there. He had a complete breakdown yesterday. It was awful. I've never seen anyone so broken before."

Puck could do nothing more than stare at Finn in confusion, so Finn tried to clarify.

"This bullying thing is getting to him, a lot more than he is letting on."

"Well, that's an easy fix." Puck shrugged nonchalantly. "We'll just look out for him more. Walk him to class and stuff."

Finn shook his head. "I don't think it'll be that easy."

Puck still looked perplexed. "What can we do though?"

"I don't know." And Finn truly didn't. He was at a loss. What could he do for Kurt? What could any of them do?

* * *

After Puck and Finn's conversation, Finn proceeded to keep an eye out for Kurt throughout the rest of the day. It wasn't really fun for Finn, nor was it fun for Kurt, if his facial expressions were anything to go by. Finn tried his hardest to be there next to Kurt when classes were changing. He tried to come up with multiple reasons as to why he needed to be by Kurt's side at all times, but he wasn't always successful. He was able to get there just in the nick of time sometimes, but he also saw the times when he wasn't able to make it.

It was exactly as Wes and David had described. Kurt got shoulder checked against lockers constantly. His books were pushed out of his arms. He was tripped. Finn even saw Karofsky stare Kurt down at one point in time and it didn't look natural. There was something to it that seemed inhuman and cold. To be quite honest, it scared the living daylights out of Finn, so there was no telling how scared Kurt was. In fact, Finn wanted to take his brother, hide him away and never let him leave the house again. Finn wanted to think he himself was being ridiculous, but he just _knew_ he wasn't. Something was seriously wrong and if Kurt wasn't going to do anything about it, then he would.

* * *

That night, after Kurt had gone to sleep, Finn got up from his bed as silently as possible and walked up the stairs to the living room where he knew Burt was still watching television.

"Burt?" Finn stood in the doorway of the living room, wringing his hands in front of his stomach in worry. "Can I talk to you?"

Seeing his almost-stepson's face, Burt said "Sure Finn." He muted the television. "What's up, son?"

Finn smiled at being called son and sat down across from his new father.

"It's about Kurt."

Burt's expression turned into a look of concern. "What about Kurt?"

Finn took a deep breath and said, "He's not doing good."

"You mean he's sick?" Burt sighed. "I'll go get the thermometer. I knew something was wrong. He never tells me anything." Burt shook his head and began to get up from his recliner before Finn stood and put his hand on his shoulder, guiding him back to the chair.

"No, he's not sick. There's more to it than that." Seeing Finn's look of apprehension got Burt worried too.

In all seriousness, Burt asked, "What's wrong with my boy, Finn?"

Knowing there was no beating around the bush on the matter, Finn stated quite simply, "He's getting bullied at school."

Burt took a deep breath and braced himself. "How bad is it?"

"It's really bad." Finn hesitated to continue. "I don't even know how much has happened to him and he doesn't want to worry you because of your heart...and other things."

Burt's eyes narrowed. "What other things?"

Finn shrugged his shoulders casually and said, "Well, if you were to transfer him to, oh, I don't know, Dalton Academy for boys in Westerville, Ohio for instance…" Finn trailed off seeing his stepfather's confused expression. He hurried to continue. "…you would have to pay for private school and what with your medical expenses...and maybe a future wedding...and perhaps even a honeymoon...I'm not sure it's something we could afford to do right now."

Burt's face became a deadpan stare before he decided to ignore the wedding part of the conversation and focus on what was really the issue.

"Have you done some research on this school, Finn?"

Finn looked sheepish when he spilled the news. "Kurt and I may or may not have gone to spy on their glee club, The Warblers, yesterday." Finn hastened to explain further once Burt started looking stern. "But Kurt fell in love with the school and the classes and stuff!"

"More stuff?"

Finn wrung his hands some more. "Well, he made friends really quick there."

"I see, and these boys treated him kindly?"

"Like they had been friends for years."

Burt nodded his head looking at his lap. He then looked back to his stepson and simply stated, "I'll look into it."

Finn nodded and got up to walk away.

"Finn?" Burt called out.

"Yes, Burt?"

"Thank you for coming to me with this. You're a good big brother."

Finn's smile practically ripped his face in two as he skipped down the stairs to his shared room, careful not to wake Kurt, who was still asleep.

Carol came out of the kitchen just then, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She walked up to her boyfriend. "So, we have some research to do, huh?" She sat on the arm of his chair and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, gently rubbing his back while Burt sat with his hand rubbing his forehead in thought.

"It appears we do."

Carol nodded gently and continued to rub his back. "Thanks for saying what you did to Finn. I think you made his life."

"It was true though. He was smart in coming to me." Burt raised his other hand to hide his face from his future wife.

"It'll be OK," she whispered into his ear as she hugged him from the side. "Everything will be fine."

* * *

"Good morning, boys!" exclaimed Carol the next morning as she stood by the coffee pot.

"Morning mom," grunted Finn.

"Morning Carol," said Kurt.

"Morning, honey," responded Burt, planting a kiss on her cheek. She handed him two cups of coffee and he sat down handing one to Kurt. He then watched as the boys grabbed their choice of breakfast before he spoke up.

"Kurt," he said gently. "Finn's going to take the pick-up to school. You and I are going to stay home and talk."

Kurt looked up from his muesli to his father in confusion.

"Why? I need to go to school."

"Do you have any tests today?"

Kurt's eyebrows crinkled. "Well, no. I don't, but-"

"Then you don't need to go to school today. I need to talk to you."

Kurt put down his spoon in sudden worry. "What's wrong? Is it about your heart? I could have sworn you didn't have any appointments. Did I miss an appointment? Are you feeling OK?"

"Yes, Kurt," Burt continued in fond exasperation. He hadn't meant to worry his son. "I'm feeling fine. We'll talk about it once Carol leaves for work and Finn leaves for school."

But Kurt pushed on, not understanding. "Am I in trouble? Did I do something?"

"No, you have done nothing wrong." Being able to tell that his father was starting to get annoyed, Kurt clamped his mouth shut and looked down at his muesli. He picked up his spoon once more and took a couple more bites before putting his spoon back down and looking at Finn, who had just finished his last bite.

Finn stood up and put his bowl in the sink before turning around and hugging Kurt loosely from behind his chair. Kurt looked over his shoulder at Finn's face and Finn whispered in his ear, "Love you, bro. Good luck."

Kurt's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Finn pulled away, grabbed his school bag and rushed out the door to his truck.

"Bye Honey. Have a good day with your father. I love you very much." Carol kissed Kurt's cheek and then moved and kissed Burt before, she too, walked out the door. Kurt stared after her in shock and concern, the "very much" throwing him off. He turned back to look at his father.

All was silent at the table as Kurt and Burt stared each other down.

Kurt shook his head. "What did I do?"

"I've already told you, Kurt. You haven't done anything." Burt paused for a moment before taking off his baseball cap and rubbing his forehead. "Actually, you kind of have done something. You haven't been telling me the truth."

Kurt looked as if he were about to cry. He hated being in trouble. "About what exactly haven't I told you?"

"How bad school has gotten for you. The bullying?"

Kurt's eyes shut in horror and his mouth tightened in incredulous fury. "I'm going to kill, Finn. He had no right!"

"He had every right. He's your big brother now and he's trying to protect you."

Kurt sat in silence, looking at his cupped hands sitting on the table as a tear fell from his eye.

"Kurt," Burt reached out and put one of his hands on Kurt's. "I'm not doing this to hurt you. I'm doing this because you're my son. I love you and I need to take care of you. Now please tell me what's been going on."

Kurt looked at his father's hand touching his, and then looked into his eyes. He broke. Kurt began the tale of everything that had happened to him at McKinley High. The locker shoves. The dumpster tosses. The name calling and even some of the threats. Burt would occasionally chime in with a question or two and Kurt would answer him honestly. They ended up having a three hour conversation at the kitchen table amongst cold cups of coffee and mushy cereal with both sharing a few tears here and there.

They had lunch together after, resting from the conversation. It was a subdued affair, but Kurt felt lighter. He smiled at his dad's look of worry over the table and Burt smiled softly back.

"Feel better?" Burt asked his son.

"Much," answered Kurt. The rest of the lunch was filled with a companionable silence.

After lunch, Kurt continued sitting at the table while his father called Dalton Academy in front of him, preparing to set up an immediate transfer. Burt talked paperwork and email and everything else that needed to be talked about. He spoke with the secretary, Gina Mitchell, who was thrilled that Kurt had decided on coming to Dalton. Burt looked to his son sternly who smiled innocently in return. Burt also spoke to the headmaster of the school, asking him all sorts of questions and getting all good answers. It wasn't much longer before Burt was hanging up the phone.

He sighed and smiled, nodding at his son. It was official. Come this time the next day, Kurt would be getting out of his first day of classes at Dalton Academy. Kurt nodded back at his father, his own smile faltering and asked to be excused.

* * *

That afternoon, when Finn got home from school, he wasn't exactly certain as to what he would find. An insanely upset Kurt, maybe? Perhaps even a Kurt filled with rage? He didn't know, but what he did know was that he had done the right thing, so when he walked through the door as quietly as possible and saw that nothing was amiss, he took a deep reassuring breath. He walked to the kitchen and glanced in. Burt was sitting at the table, filling out what appeared to be paperwork.

Finn broke the tense silence. "Burt?" His stepfather looked up and nodded at him, softly smiling before bending back over to continue filling out the sheets before him.

Finn let it go and walked to the closed door leading to the basement where he and Kurt shared their room. Taking another deep breath, he held it for a second and then let it out before knocking two times on the door to warn Kurt that he was coming in.

He opened the door and walked down the stairs slowly. As soon as his face was able to peek past the wall and see, what he saw nearly broke his heart. There Kurt was, sitting on his bed hugging his knees with tears running down his face, sobbing his little heart out. Finn stopped and stood at the foot of the stairs, waiting to be acknowledged. Kurt raised his head when he heard the footsteps stop moving and looked up at his brother.

He opened his mouth and whispered a broken, "Thank you."

Finn's heart broke a little more. He walked the rest of the way to Kurt's bed and put his arms around him as Kurt cried. He rubbed his back whispering "It's going to be OK. Everything's going to be fine now."

And both boys truly believed it finally would be.

* * *

_The End_


End file.
